Friday, December 7, 2007

Assignments for the Week of December 10th

Dear Students,
Many of you will be going on trips this week and next week -- keep in mind you are still responsible for what you miss during class. Progress reports for the second marking period will be based on the assignments you have completed for Ms. Paulson. Progress reports will be sent home at the beginning of next week. Hope you all have a great week!
Mrs. Hatler



*Process Analysis Unit*

Monday, December 10th -- Today you will work in groups creating a "How to..." paper (Writing Assignment # 1). This paper will focus on a specific task and a specific audience. I will assign these to you during class. You will then exchange your paper with another group. They are then to follow your instructions. This writing assignment is to be completed by the end of the period today. You will need one set of instructions per group.

Tuesday, December 11th -- We will read Tibor Kalman and LuLu Kalman's "How to Open a CD Box" and Linnea Saukko's "How to Poison the Earth."After discussing each work, you will choose one of the following writing assignments for Writing Assignment # 2:

1. You will choose something that annoys you and discuss how you deal with the presence of of this difficulty in your life. You will mimic Kalman and Kalman's directive process analysis to instruct your readers how to overcome this trouble.

2. In everyday conversation, we often use satire or sarcasm to suggest solutions to problems that seem ridiculous or overwhelming. What kinds of situations drive you to make suggestions like the one found in "How to Poison the Earth"? Write an essay detailing this satirical solution, paying careful attention to explaining each step of the process and to maintaining your satirical tone throughout.

This second writing assignment will be due Thursday, December 13th.

Wednesday, December 12th -- We will be reading Lars Eighner's "My Daily Dives in the Dumpster." We will discuss Eighner's style and what he teaches his reader. The focus will include meaning, purpose and audience, method and structure, and language. You may also have time today to work on Writing Assignment # 2.

Thursday, December 13th -- Writing Assignment # 2 from Tuesday is due today.

Today and tomorrow's lesson will focus on the importance of text messaging in today's society. We will read Jennie Bistow's article "Text Messaging: Take Note" and Charles McGrath's "The Pleasure of the Text." We will use these articles as a basis of our discussion. You will then create your own process analysis paper explaining why text messaging is necessary and how to use it properly. Guess who is your audience? Me...a mother of a teenager and a pre-teen. I am clueless on how to text message! I also do not know why it is necessary for my children to have the ability to text message on their cell phones. This third writing assignment will be due Monday, December 17th.

Friday, December 14th -- Continue to work on Writing Assignment # 3.

Have a great weekend!